Phil Mickelson stopped the young boy as he headed up the store aisle with a brand-new pair of Spider-Man shoes.

"Those are cool," Mickelson said to the boy, who was rendered speechless by this sudden encounter with the PGA Tour star. The boy simply nodded and flashed a satisfied smile.

It was one special moment among many yesterday morning as about 1,000 children from all over San Diego County were treated to a Wal-Mart shopping spree of school supplies and clothes by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation.

Each child who attended picked out $200 worth of clothes and shoes, and each was given a backpack filled with school supplies. The Mickelsons contributed $200,000 for the day, while Wal-Mart chipped in $25,000 and treated the kids to breakfast.

The Mickelsons were leaving for New Jersey in the afternoon so Phil could begin preparations at Baltusrol Country Club for the PGA Championship in two weeks. But at 5:30 in the morning they were out in front of the Wal-Mart store on Murphy Canyon Road greeting dozens of buses from school districts in San Diego, Oceanside, El Cajon, Escondido and National City. The children, first-through fourth-graders, were chosen by their principals based on need.

Phil Mickelson, dressed in a casual brown shirt, white pants and leather flip-flops, with Amy at his side, offered his familiar smile and a handshake for virtually everyone who walked through the door. Three hours later, the Mickelsons and their parents were still chatting with parents and directing families to the checkout stands.

"It's an amazing feeling to be able to do something like this," said Phil, the father of three, including Amanda, who begins first grade this fall and helped pass out backpacks.

"It's heartwarming to see the looks on the kids' faces and to hear the gratitude of the teachers and parents. We feel very lucky to be in a position to do this."

Since starting their foundation, the Mickelsons have focused strongly on education. Two years ago they began the "Birdies for the Brave" program, with Phil donating money for the birdies and eagles he made on tour toward scholarships for children of military Special Operations personnel killed in battle or training.

Last week, the couple attended the first Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy in Fairfax, Va., where some of the top math and science instructors in the country held a summit on new and better ways to teach their subjects at the elementary school level.

Yesterday's "Start Smart" program, conceived one evening by Amy's mom, Renee McBride, and led enthusiastically by her dad, Gary, was a way to reach out to the kids in Mickelson's hometown.

"I have the highest respect for Phil and Amy," said Ed Hill, a math resource teacher at the Euclid Elementary School who also attended the Exxon Mobil conference. "I think they've chosen the right thing to emphasize."

Hill's school is in City Heights, one of San Diego's poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods, where Hill said some family incomes are as low as $15,000 per year. "We are a hard-working school – we had the highest jump in test scores of any school in the district," he said.

"But we're very much a school of poverty. Many of these kids never get a new thing in their life, so this is a real joy. I think it will energize them for the rest of the school year."

Patty Bertram was seeing the effect firsthand. As she stood in line with a shopping cart overflowing with clothes, her foster children, Marc, 8, and Jvonni, 4, bounced excitedly, surveying their bounty. The two boys were only recently placed with Bertram, of El Cajon, who had adopted three other children and has another foster child arriving tomorrow.

"Look at all this great stuff they got," Bertram said. "Six shirts each, two pairs of shoes each . . . and all stuff for school. It's not like anybody's going out buying cigarettes with the money. Doing this was better than giving out gift certificates.

"This is $400 worth of stuff that I wouldn't be able to buy for them now. They're great kids, but they come to us with only the shirts on their backs."

Bertram said the impact would be far greater than simply having new clothes.

"Their self-esteem is unbelievable from this," she said. "They are unbelievably excited."

Amy Mickelson was touched by what she saw.

"It's been so much fun," she said. "Seeing all the kids, how excited they are about the special kinds of shoes they got or the cool backpack they got. It's like a bright light, seeing their faces."